Eyes On You
by Marielyfan
Summary: Pre-series AU. What happens when Richard Castle is in need of a bodyguard? Who could he possibly choose to protect him and his family?
1. Chapter 1

**AN: New story! So, this takes place a couple of years before the start of the series, but in present time. Hope y'all enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: Castle and all the characters belong to the genious that is Andrew Marlowe.**

* * *

25 year old Katherine Beckett is standing in her kitchen. She's leaning on the counter staring at the business card in front of her. It read: "BGA, Bodyguard Agency"

She couldn't believe she was actually considering working as a bodyguard. She had been laid-off from the precinct three weeks ago because of budget cuts, and she couldn't find a job. She was on the verge of going crazy and the bills were piling up.

She sighs and throws a murderous glance at the card. One of the other officers that had been let go told her it wasn't half bad, and the pay was pretty good.

"Ugh" she groans as she picks the phone and calls the number on the card. She was selling her soul to the devil

* * *

Richard Castle, famous playboy novelist, is signing books at the New York Public Library. He's been hearing the same old phrases from eager fans over and over for over five hours, so when six o'clock rolls by, he's ready to go home.

"Hey, dad" 12 year old Alexis Castle smiles brightly as her father walks over to her.

"Hey, pumpkin" all his tiredness and troubles melt away just looking at that smile. "Did you have fun?" she had spent the day on one of the armchairs reading books.

"Mm-hmm" she loves it when he sings books there. She gets to spend the entire day reading.

_Damn_, he thinks. He had forgotten to tell Gina something. "Sweetie, can you stay here for a second? I have to talk to Gina"

"Sure" she gets back to reading her book.

As Castle walks away, a guy with a camera, a pad and a pencil sits in front of Alexis. "Hello Alexis" the guy says friendly.

"Hi…" Alexis lowers her book and takes a look at the guy. _A paparazzi_, great.

"So, Rick Castle is your father?"

"I'm sorry. I can't talk to you" she knew she wasn't supposed to talk to strangers.

"I'm not a stranger" he put on a friendly smile. "I'm a friend. I know your dad"

This time, she ignores him and keeps reading.

The guy does not look pleased. "Look, kid" his tone turns hateful as he stands up. "You will answer my questions, understood?"

Alexis was getting nervous. She thought about leaving, but he was standing right in front of her, blocking her way. "I-"

"Hey!" Castle rushes to his daughter's side and seeing the look of fear on her face, punches the guy square on the jaw before he gets a chance to run away. "Why are you bothering my daughter?" his gaze was murderous as he saw the guy scurry away. "Are you okay?" he kneels in front of his daughter, his look softening.

"Yeah, he was just… He wanted me to answer some questions" she was still a little startled.

"Come on, let's go home" he takes her hand and they leave the library.

* * *

"Alright, I'll be there tomorrow" Beckett says as she hangs up. She's going to go in for an interview tomorrow. She knows her chances of getting in are pretty good. She has worked in law enforcement; she's one of the best of her rank, she has training in the handling of firearms and close quarter combat…

_But _she's a beautiful young woman – and a show off, apparently –. And the chances of a multi-millionaire or a big shot celebrity asking her for protection are pretty low. It's not the fact that she can't handle it – _she can _– but she really doesn't look the type.

_Oh, well_. She opens a bottle of wine, pours herself a glass and prepares a nice warm bath.

Tomorrow, she'll see what happens.

* * *

That night, after Alexis had gone to sleep, Castle is in his office thinking about what had happened at the library. He had been so scared, _and so mad!_ He couldn't believe those people, attacking a little kid like that… It was one thing that they attacked him, it was an occupational hazard. But his daughter? That's where he draws the line.

_And what could happen next?! _His mind swirls with all the possibilities, all worse than the last and he has to stop himself before he decides to hunt the guy down and kill him.

He debates with himself for a while, but realizes it isn't that hard of a decision. He's getting a bodyguard. Who knew what could happen next? Besides, he had the money. Why not?

He would talk to Gina about it tomorrow.


	2. Chapter 2

The next morning, Beckett is standing in front of the mirror wondering what she should wear. She stops herself after a thought occurs to her. _Since when did she put that much thought on what to wear? _She was nervous. She didn't know what to expect and that gave her the creeps.

She settles on one some of the pants and blazers she used to wear to work.

For some reason, she feels like something's going to happen today. Good or bad, she isn't sure, but something _big. _She shakes her head to clear her thoughts. _It's just another job interview_. She reminds herself, hoping this is it.

* * *

Castle is at Gina's office that morning. He's going to discuss the bodyguard thing with her, or rather _inform _her. His mind was set.

"Rick, what brings you here?" Gina asks from behind her desk.

"I want a bodyguard" he goes straight to the point.

Gina's smile drops a bit. "A bodyguard?" she eyes him suspiciously.

"Yes. Yesterday this paparazzi was bothering Alexis, and I don't want that to happen anymore" his tone left no room for arguing.

"I don't know Rick…" yes, he was the star of Black Pawn, but they were not about to waste hundreds of dollars on a bodyguard just because of some paparazzi.

Seeing the doubt on her face, he amends himself immediately. "Of course I would be the one paying"

"Well then, I guess we could make it happen" her smile comes back. He's the star of Black Pawn, and if he wants a bodyguard, he'll get a bodyguard. As long as he's the one who pays for it, of course. "I know an agency; we could go down there tomorrow"

"Great" he gets up. "Thanks" he leaves without further ado.

* * *

"I don't know, miss" the middle-aged man told her, a doubtful look on his face.

"You haven't even reviewed my file" she tries to calm herself.

"But I saw you"

_Seriously?! _She has to restrain herself to not punch him. "Just… Review my file"

"This is not a place for people like you" he said smugly.

"Give me two minutes in the shooting range and I'll prove it to you, this is _my _place" she didn't even want the job to begin with! Why is she fighting so hard?

"I really doubt it" he tells her like she's a five year old.

That's exactly why she's fighting so hard. _It's the 21st century for crying out loud! _She can't believe there are still people who think women can't do this kind of job.

If looks could kill, the guy would be in heaven – or hell – right now.

Seeing the determination in her eyes, and wanting to get the satisfaction of telling her _I told you so, _he gives her a chance. "You know what? I'll let you do the test run. If you pass it, you're in"

She eyes him suspiciously. "Okay"

She had an _apparently _an easy mission to fulfill. The agency had this great space that simulated a city and all of its dangers. All she had to do was take her Principal, which would be played by the middle-aged guy, Mr. Petersen, from point A to point B safely.

The mission supplied a lot of tricks, shenanigans and bluffs, which most of the wannabe bodyguards failed to control on their first try. But Kate went through it like nothing. Her slender frame, combat training and observation skills let her move fast and avoid and control threats.

The point B happened to be an apartment. "That's it. I just get inside and the mission is over" he looks deceived.

Beckett feels there's something not quite right and her suspicions are confirmed when he opens the door of the apartment. She only has enough time to step between Mr. Petersen and the guy that's holding a gun – that is, a paintball gun. He shoots hitting Beckett on the chest, leaving Petersen unscathed.

"Ugh" he grunts in disbelief. He was hoping the last test would make her fail. "But now you're dead" he finds a ray of hope. "He can shoot again"

"The mission was getting you here safe. You're safe aren't you?" she's not about to let some technicality steal her moment.

"Fine. You're in" he says begrudgingly. "Come on, I'll give you the stuff you need"

She follows him into his office happily with a smug grin on her face.

"Your file will be ready and be presented to people who need our services by tomorrow" though he doesn't think most of their clients will even look at her twice. "Having worked in law enforcement, you already have a security clearance, which makes things much easier. Your license and handgun will be given to you when you have your first job"

"Okay… So I just wait for you to call me?"

"Mm-hmm" he mumbles. He's about ready for her to get out of his face.

"Alright. Thank you Mr. Petersen" she leaves with a smile.

* * *

**AN: Sorry if this was totally inaccurate, but I kind of have no idea about how it works... Anywho, I'm glad you're interested by my story! Hope you like this one.**


	3. Chapter 3

The next day, Castle is outside the bodyguard agency Gina told him to meet her at.

"Hello Rick" she greets him as she steps into the building with him on her heels.

"Gina" he says as he studies the lobby. It's a fancy place. _Of course. _With all the celebrities and hot-shots that come here, it can't be anything but fancy.

The walk over to the receptionist, and she sends them to Mr. Petersen's office. They go to where they're told and are met by a middle-aged guy in a fancy suit smiling at the possible new clients.

"Mr. Castle, please sit down" he says respectfully. "So you need a bodyguard?" he sits down behind his desk.

"Yeah"

"For what, exactly?"

"I need a low-key security guard, to protect me and my family"

"How many do you need?"

"One will be enough"

"Alright" Mr. Petersen takes a large folder and hands it to Castle. "These are all our low-key bodyguards. You've got the picture and their description"

Castle starts going through it and none of them really caches his eye. They're all tough looking guys who could certainly keep him safe, but not really low-key. He wanted someone who didn't look too much like a bodyguard. He didn't need the media commenting on his need for a big-muscled gorilla to take care of him.

He's getting to the end of the folder and in the corner of his eye notices Gina's getting impatient. He's about to give up and choose one at random, when he sees her file. _Katherine Beckett _is her name. She's a beautiful young woman, who doesn't really fit the stereotype, which was exactly what he was looking for.

He barely glances at her description and qualifications when he shows the file to Mr. Petersen. "This one"

"Great" he answers with a smile on his face. The smile disappears when she recognizes the woman. _Not her again! _"Are you sure, sir? We've got plenty of other-"

"I want her" Castle cuts him off.

"Rick, are you sure?" Gina asks him. Just looking at the girl she isn't sure she would be able to take care of herself, even less of Castle and Alexis.

"She's just what I'm looking for" his mind is set. _That's who he wants._

"Very well" Petersen sighs. "When do you need her?"

"As soon as possible"

"Alright. Do you want to wait for her here, or should we send her to your house?"

"I'll wait here"

He sends them back to the lobby to wait there. Gina leaves because she has to get to a meeting, so he waits alone,

* * *

Beckett's doing some training at the gym when her cellphone rings.

"Beckett" she picks up trying to catch her breath. It was the bodyguard agency. They needed her to get there as soon as possible. _Already?! _"Okay, um- I'll be there in 20" she hangs up and rushes to her apartment to take a quick shower and change.

She wasn't expecting to be called so soon. After the whole thing with Mr. Petersen she was sure he would do anything in his power to stop her from getting a job.

As she drives to the agency, the excitement wears off and she starts getting nervous. Who would she work for, what would she have to do? She was hoping she wouldn't have to work for a starlet on her high horses. She wouldn't be able to handle it.

She practically runs into the building where she knows her very first Principal is waiting.

She's going to hate this so much.

* * *

Castle's getting impatient. The _Angry Birds_ on his cellphone had only managed to distract him for 5 minutes. It's been over an hour since they had told him she was coming! _Well, _more like 20 minutes, but it felt like a lot more.

And that's when he sees her. She's coming into the lobby looking a bit disheveled. He wonders what she had been doing before they called her in.

He gets up from his seat the moment Mr. Petersen steps out of his office and calls him and the girl in.

Castle walks into the office but doesn't sit; Beckett stands respectfully a bit behind.

"Miss Beckett" Petersen says and she walks closer to the desk. "This is Mr. Richard Castle. He'll be your Principal for as long as he needs a bodyguard"

She shakes his hand and nods respectfully. "Kate Beckett. You can call me Beckett" she sets the boundaries immediately. She had been given a list of the bodyguard protocol and one of the most important things to do, was to establish boundaries between Principals and bodyguards.

"Right" he gives her his playboy charming smile, to which she doesn't respond like he expects. She doesn't flinch. That surprises him, but regains his spirits quickly.

He's going to have fun trying to break that professional boring attitude of hers.

She internally rolls her eyes. She knows the guy. He wrote her favorite books, but she's not the kind of girl who would melt meeting him. She knows there are plenty of other girls who already do.

_She's going to hate this so much!_

Once the introductions are done, they leave the office.

"Mr. Castle," she wonders when they get to the lobby. "Are we going to your house?"

"My apartment, yes" he simply answers.

They decide to drive there separately, since they both have their cars. They would figure out the rest once they were in his house.

She gets there before he does, so she waits for him in front of the building. As she's waiting, she starts to think about the logistics. How would everything work? _Would she stay at his apartment? How long is this going to last? _Her head starts swirling with questions, so she decides to talk with Castle – _Mr. Castle –_ before freaking out.

When he gets there they get into the elevator and she silently follows his to his apartment. She tries to memorize as much of the place as she can, figuring out escape routes and everything that would be helpful in case of an emergency. In no time they're at the door of his loft and he opens it.

"Welcome _chez Castle_" he smiles as she stares at the place. He almost expects her to gasp in awe, which of course she doesn't.

She isn't really surprised. It is a nice place, but it's not like she was expecting anything less. "Nice place" she says as he invites her in.

They walk over to the lounge where he invites her to sit. "Want something to drink?"

"No, thanks" she sits on the couch in front of the chair he's sitting on. "So, what will you need me to do, sir?"

He grimaces. "Don't call me _sir_" it makes him sound old.

"Alright… Mr. Castle, what will you need me to do?" she repeats herself.

"Nor Mr. Castle" he figures it's too formal for him.

"_Mr. Castle_" she says pointedly. He's the boss, but she figures he's trying to break the boundaries, and if she's to work with him, she can't have that.

"Alright, alright" he lets it go. She won't be able to resist him forever. "Well," he finally gets down to business. "I will need you to protect me, of course" he scoffs; _of course she's there to protect him! _

She eyes him carefully and suppresses a smirk. _Is he nervous?_

"I- As you may already know, I'm a famous novelist" he says smugly.

"Oh, really?" she acts surprised. She's not about to help boost his probably already giant ego. "I had no idea"

That deflates his attitude a little bit, but it comes back in no time. "Anyway," he continues. "There have been some incidents with some paparazzi and my daughter, and I don't want that to happen again"

She notices the change of attitude when he talks about his daughter. He's more serious than she's ever seen him and his eyes show the determination of a father. For some reason, that throws her off a bit, more than his charming smile or his seductive ways.

She comes back from her reverie immediately. _Boundaries, _she reminds herself.

"Okay. So you will need me only when you go out, or…" she let him finish the sentence.

"Yes, I believe so" his signature smirk is back on his face.

She's relieved. She knows he will be a handful, but she's grateful that he didn't need her to stay with him. She would have probably quit right then and there.

They decide that he will call her whenever he goes out, so they exchange phone numbers and he promises to call her about his outings with anticipation.

"Well, Mr. Castle" she gets up. "Call me whenever you need me"

"Of course"

With that, she leaves. He watches her go with an intrigued look on his face. There's so much he wants to know about her. It will be hard to get her to talk… But he will wait. He will be patient. This woman is a mystery… And he never leaves a mystery unsolved.

* * *

**AN: I'm so glad so many of you are liking this! Hope you enjoyed ****this one.**


	4. Chapter 4

Once in her apartment, Beckett wonders _what the hell is she doing? _She went from being one of the best cops in her rank, to the babysitter of a spoiled, egotistical man-child! _It's only temporary. It pays the bills._ She reminds herself silently.

She walks over to her bookshelf and runs a hand through the books. She remembers how they saved her all those years ago, in that dark time when she felt like she wouldn't be able to make it… But those were the words, the story… Not Richard Castle. She was drowning and he – _the books _– saved her.

She also can't help thinking about _the look_. Not the not-so-subtle _I want to sleep with you _look, but the sincere _I will do anything to protect my daughter _look.

_I mean_, he hired a bodyguard because the consequences of his job were now getting to his daughter. A man who does that can't be so bad, _right?_

_She has no idea._

She takes a hand to her chest and turns the ring that's on the chain in her hand. She smiles to herself and shakes her head. "You wouldn't believe this, mom"

* * *

A couple of hours later, Alexis is back at the loft. Castle decides he should tell her about the bodyguard. He doesn't plan on letting her go anywhere other than school alone anymore.

"Hey, pumpkin" he goes over to her room, where she's doing her homework at her desk. _Always so responsible _he smiles to himself. God forbid young Richard Rodgers to be found inside doing homework on such a fine afternoon.

"Hey dad" she looks up from her homework to meet his eyes.

"I want to talk to you about something" he sits on the edge of the bed.

Listening to her father's serious tone, Alexis turns her chair to face him. "What's up?"

"Umm… Remember the incident with the paparazzi a couple of days ago?"

"Yeah…" she isn't sure where he's going with this. She had practically forgotten all about it. She knows it's something that they have to deal with.

"Well… I hired a bodyguard" he looks at her expectantly. He really doesn't know what kind of reaction he should expect.

Her jaw drops as she takes in what he said. "You did _what?_" she can't believe he did that! "Dad…" she recovers slowly from the shock. "Don't you think that's a little over the top?"

"Actually, I don't" he looks at her sincerely. "We live in a terrible world, Alexis. I wouldn't be able to handle it if something happened to you"

She cocks her head to the side and sighs. She doesn't have much of a say in the matter anyway. "And when will I get to meet that _alpha male _of yours that will take care of us?"

"Actually" he says with an excited grin. "_Alpha female_"

"A woman?" she's surprised. Well, it may not be so bad after all.

"Mm-hmm" he sees she's intrigued by this and he's glad. He feared she wouldn't be on board at all. "She's nice. You'll like her"

She narrows his eyes at him and gives him a smile. "We'll see about that"

* * *

A couple of days later, Castle has another book signing, so he calls Beckett and tells her to meet him outside of the loft.

When she gets there, Castle is waiting in the lobby with a young girl, whom she figures is his daughter.

"Hey, Beckett" he waves at her. He's so excited he looks like a nine-year-old on a sugar rush.

She has to restrain herself to not roll her eyes. "Mr. Castle, Miss" she nods her head in greeting.

"This is Alexis" he introduces his daughter.

"Miss Castle-"

"Alexis" she says with a shy smile.

"Alexis," she figures she can be on a first name basis with her. "I'm Kate Beckett" she gives the young girl a smile.

"Shall we get going?" Castle steps in after the introductions are done.

Once they get to the car – an expensive looking one, of course – she realizes that he's the one that's going to drive. She can't have that.

Before he opens the door on the driver's side she clears her throat and he looks at her. "Mr. Castle" she pauses for a second. "Shouldn't I be the one driving?"

"What?" he's taken off guard by that. He hadn't thought of that. "But it's my car"

"And I'm your bodyguard. I have to be in control of the situation, and that includes driving you" it wasn't entirely true that she had to drive, but it wasn't a lie either.

"Fine" he looks at her suspiciously, but decides to drop it.

"I call shotgun!" Alexis, who had been intently listening to the adults, yells immediately. Castle begrudgingly sits in the back.

Beckett is having a hard time hiding a smirk. She's already starting to like the kid.

"Umm" Castle remembers something and he leans forward in his seat.

"Mr. Castle…" she sounds like a mother scolding her five-year-old.

"Yeah, yeah, just a sec" he ignores her warning. "I kind of don't want the media talking about the fact that I have a bodyguard, so I was thinking you could maybe go undercover"

"Alright…" she's worried about what the answer to her next question might be. "As what?"

"My girlfriend of course" _what else?_ He gives her a boyish grin, which she sees in the corner of her eye.

"I'm not going in as your girlfriend" she tells him pointedly. There's no way in hell she'll do that. There's got to be another option.

"Relax, it's just pretend" he says unbothered.

"I don't want to pretend"

"What? Afraid you'll like it?"

"How about a personal assistant?" Alexis steps in.

"I think that's a wonderful idea" Beckett's thankful of the young girl's help, who just grins at the pouting face of her father.

"Are you two going to be like this all the time?" he sits back in his sit and crosses his arms in front of him.

Beckett just shakes her head with a small smile.

At the library, she keeps a close eye on Alexis while staying mostly close to Castle helping him with the signing.

She notices a guy near the section where Alexis is reading who's browsing the books. She keeps a close eye on him and notices that he's staying in one place way too long to actually be looking for something.

When Castle takes a break and goes to the bathroom she sees the guy going towards Alexis. She hurries towards her and gets there just after the guy gets a few feet from the girl. She stands protectively in front of her.

"Beckett" Alexis notices the older woman.

"Sir, I'm going to need you to leave" Beckett looks authoritatively at the guy.

"Him again?" Alexis whispers incredulously when she recognizes the paparazzi from the other day.

"Oh, and who are you?" he looks petulantly at Beckett. "Another of Mr. Castle's conquests?"

"Sir, I won't tell you again. I'm going to need you to leave" she takes her hand to the gun in her hip when he steps closer.

"Or else…?" she sees something in his eye. It's dark and twisted. Almost as if he's ready to do anything for…

Her train of thought is interrupted when he takes out a gun and points it at Alexis. "Everybody down!" she manages to yell. Before he can do anything with his gun, she shoots him dead on the right shoulder without flinching.

The people surrounding them are on the floor and one of them is calling 911.

She rushes towards the guy that's now on the floor and takes the gun. She stands over him daring him to move a muscle – he doesn't.

"What happened?!" Castle rushes to the scene, where bystanders are getting up from the floor, Beckett's standing over a guy that's been shot and Alexis is sitting a few feet behind completely in shock.

"I'm earning my pay" there's something in her eyes that makes him feel scared for the guy she's standing over, but also makes him feel safe.

A couple of minutes later the cops are there, and Beckett's explaining what happened as they take the paparazzi into an ambulance.

They talk to some witnesses who corroborate her story, and knowing that the guy had a history of stalking, she's off the hook.

She goes back to where Castle and Alexis are. "Are you okay?" she asks them.

"Yeah…" he says. "You?"

"I'm fine" this wasn't the first time she had been in this sort of situation. She's more worried about her Principals.

Castle looks up from his daughter and looks at Beckett and he's overwhelmed with a sense of respect and thankfulness. "Thank you"

"Just doing my job, sir. Should we get going?" he had cancelled the rest of the book singing after what just happened.

"Yeah" he gets up always keeping physical contact with his daughter.

This time, Castle's in the passenger's side. Alexis is in the back deep in thought.

When they get to his building they get out of the car.

"Need anything else, sir?" Beckett asks him.

"No, you can take the rest of the day" he tells her. "Thank you"

She just nods her head and when they're safely inside the building, she turns around and walks towards her car.

* * *

**AN: I want to thank all the readers who have taken the time to review! I appreciate every comment or suggestion, and I hope I'm able to answer your questions through the story.**

**Also thank you silent readers who follow/favorite this story!**

**Hope you liked this one!**


	5. Chapter 5

**AN: Sorry about the chapter thing. I had uploaded the chapter, but I wasn't convinced with it, so I worked on it a little bit. ****Hope this time it makes more sense.**

* * *

When she gets to her apartment, Beckett replays the events of the day in her head. She had been through that kind of situation plenty of times before, but what's bothering her the most is Alexis.

Even after everything had died down and they were safely in the car, she still had that look of shock in her face, which she totally understands. But she just hopes that Castle manages the situation properly and helps his daughter through it.

* * *

At the loft, Alexis has gone to sleep and Castle is sitting at his desk thinking about all that happened that day.

He had had crazy stalkers over the years, but it had never escalated to over following him around wherever he went, and it usually stopped after a couple of pictures and autographs. And it definitely had never involved his daughter.

He runs his hand over his face as he leans back into his chair. It was one of the scariest experiences in his life and without Beckett there, it could've been much worse…

He shakes his head to clear the scenarios – each worse than the last – that were making their way into his brain.

He just hopes that this doesn't affect Alexis too much.

* * *

Alexis lies in her bed trying to get some sleep. She's exhausted but she can't seem to shut her mind off.

The incident that day keeps taking over her thoughts. She knows it's totally normal, but she also knows that she's okay, nothing happened to her, and thinking about what ifs and worse case scenarios isn't going to get her anywhere… But she can't help it.

At some point during the night, exhaustion finally takes over and she slips into a restless sleep.

* * *

Over the next couple of weeks, Castle had only needed Beckett a couple of times, mostly when he went out to eat with Alexis or things like that.

Yeah, that is exactly what Beckett feared. There was no action. They practically didn't need her. She knows that the lack of action is actually a good thing, but she's starting to get bored.

That Saturday morning he calls her over to the loft for an assignment. She gets there in no time. She knocks on the door and Castle is the one to open. "Good morning, Mr. Castle" she steps in.

"Good morning" he closes the door behind her. "Want some coffee?" he asks her as he walks over to the kitchen.

"Already had some, thank you. Did you need me for something?" she gets right down to business.

"Wow" he says sensing her urgency. "Not feeling chit-chatty, are we?" he acts surprised. She had never been _chit-chatty _around him. _Not yet _anyway.

"Not particularly, sir" she rolls her eyes. She's used to his antics by now, and she's more relaxed around him now, though she hasn't let anything slip yet. _Or that's what she thinks._

"I'm going to need you to go with Alexis today. She's going out with a couple of friends and I would like you to go with her"

She looks at him quizzically. There's something not quite right here. "Does she know you're sending me to follow her around with her friends?"

His cocky smile fades. He's been busted.

"Mr. Castle, I don't think that's a god idea" she sometimes sees herself in that young woman and she would be outraged if her father pulled something like this on her.

"Yeah, well. I don't want her to go alone" he looks at her sincerely.

She knows it's not her job to argue so she just goes with it.

"Dad-" Alexis says as she runs down the stairs. "Beckett?" she stops in her tracks when she notices their bodyguard. It takes her a second and then it dawns on her. "Oh, dad, please…" she looks at him pleadingly. She can't have their bodyguard following her around with her friends. It's not like she was going to do anything bad, but she had gone out plenty of times before and nothing had happened.

"Would you rather I go?" he tells her pointedly. His mind is set.

"Don't worry" Beckett steps in. "I will be standing as far away from you as possible" she tries to help.

Alexis sighs. She can't argue. "Fine" she agrees begrudgingly.

Beckett drives Alexis in her car to the shop where she's meeting her friends. They drive in comfortable silence. Neither of them feels the need to talk.

When they get there, Alexis finds three girls and starts talking to them, ignoring Beckett's presence a few feet away from them, who's doing the regular security sweep while always keeping an eye on her Principal.

She's on full bodyguard mode the whole time she's following the teenagers around. Her task is harder because the girl is not by her side, but it's nothing Beckett can't handle.

At some point the girls walk into a shop where they sell lots of girly stuff. Everything's running smoothly until there's a loud sound, which Beckett immediately identifies as the backfire of a car right outside the store. When she turns back, she notices Alexis has taken cover behind one of the stands.

"Alexis?" one of her friends looks after her confused. They all stay there and stare at the scared girl not sure of what to do.

"Alexis!" Beckett runs after her, leaving the confused teenagers behind. "Alexis?" she finds the girl curled up leaning against the stand breathing heavily. She sits by her side and waits for the girl to calm down.

"Oh, God" Alexis sighs softly as she regains her spirits. She covers her face with her hands. _What the hell happened?! _She heard that bang and she suddenly saw herself starring down the barrel of a gun. Her flight response kicked in immediately. No thinking, no reasoning. Just _run._

"It's okay, kid" she puts a reassuring hand on the girl's shoulder. "It's okay"

"Alexis?" one of the girl's friends comes towards them slowly followed by the other two.

"She's alright" Beckett tells them.

"I'm fine" Alexis gets up after her breathing has come back to normal.

"Are you sure?" Beckett doesn't think so.

"Yeah" Alexis shrugs it off. She reassures her friends that it was nothing before they continue with their shopping.

Once they're done, Alexis and Beckett go back to the car.

They're driving back to the loft, this time an uncomfortable silence settles between them as Alexis goes over the incident in her head.

"What happened, Alexis?" Beckett decides to break the silence.

"I'm okay" The girl answers quietly.

Beckett shoots her a sideways glance that tells her she knows she's lying.

She sighs. She may as well tell her. "I- I don't really know what happened. But it won't happen again. I was just... I don't know, being irrational, I guess" She says looking out the window. She's good at being in control, at keeping her emotions in check. _It won't happen again._

Beckett nods her head slowly. She makes a mental note to talk to Castle about it. Losing control like that can't be good. Even if it was only the first time. "You know Alexis, it's okay to feel confused after what happened to you. It's not like it's something that happens every day"

Alexis takes it in slowly and doesn't say anything for the rest of the ride.

They get back to the loft and when they get in, Castle comes out of his office with a big smile on his face, which disappears seeing the forlorn expression on his daughter's face. "What happened?" he directs the question to Beckett.

"We had an… incident" she's not sure how much the girl wants to share right now.

"I'm okay, dad" Alexis tries a smile, but it doesn't quite reach her eyes. "I'll be in my room" she excuses herself as she leaves.

Beckett stands awkwardly in the middle of the lounge for a few seconds until Castle gets his thoughts in order and invites her to sit.

"Beckett, what happened?" he looks concerned.

She sighs. She doesn't really like the fact that s_he _is the one that's talking to him, but he needs to know. "We were in a store, there was a loud sound and she ran to hide" she says factually.

He nods slowly taking it in. "PTSD?"

"That's what I thought" she's no expert, but she has had a couple of colleagues that have gone through it.

He shakes his head in remorse. "I should've seen it. She just seemed… fine. I thought she was handling it. I mean, she was having trouble sleeping but not anymore..." Alexis has always been advanced for her age. He had rarely needed to really guide or help her in her life.

Beckett takes a second to think about it. She knows she will be pushing the boundaries, most of which she had created herself, but she thinks he needs some help. "Mr. Castle" she leans forward. "She's a 12 year old girl. She can't handle something like this by herself. No matter how grown-up for her age she seems to be" She's an intelligent young woman who most of the time acts like the parent… But she's only 12. She has an idea about what the girl's going through, and the fact that she's going through it alone… It's just not right.

Castle is taken off guard by this. Beckett rarely talked to him about anything that didn't directly concern her job, so the fact that she had actually told him the cold and harsh truth, which he ignored so stupidly, showed him how much she actually cares about his daughter.

That lights something inside of him. He already admired her for all she had done, especially what she did _that _day. But that was her job. This? This is different. She doesn't _have _to do this.

He looks shocked. And she suddenly feels the urge to go sit by his side and comfort him.

_You fool, _she says to herself. She cannot start getting personal… She just can't. That is not her job! "I'm sorry, sir" she shakes her head as she stands up. "I'm sorry. I'm way out of line"

"No, no" he quickly stands up too. "That's exactly what I needed to hear" his voice softens. "She spends so much time acting like the adult… I sometimes forget she's only a kid"

"You should talk to her"

"I will" he looks directly into her eyes, and she quickly diverts her gaze.

"I- Do you need me for something else?" she avoids his eyes.

"No…" he narrows his eyes. "Thank you" he had never seen her so… _insecure? _He had always seen her calculated impenetrable façade. She always looks so determined…

"Goodbye, sir" she manages to pull herself together and is able to look at him in the eye again with her unreadable expression back on, before she turns around and leaves.

"Goodbye" he says as she closes the door.

_What was that?_ He shakes his head to try to clear his thoughts. He'll have time to think about… whatever it was that had happened, after he talked to his daugther.

* * *

**AN: I don't have much experience with PTSD so if anything seems inaccurate with that part, or anything else, please let me know.**

**Thank you!**


	6. Chapter 6

He softly knocks on his daughter's room's door. He hears a faint "Come in" and steps in.

Alexis is lying on her back with a thoughtful expression on her face. Her gaze is fixed on the ceiling.

"Beckett told me what happened" he sits by her side on the edge of the bed. "Wanna talk about it?"

"It was nothing" she shrugs.

"Look, pumpkin… You know it was not nothing…" he pauses. "If you want, we could go talk about this to someone else. If you feel more comfortable like that"

"It's not a big deal" she can handle it on her own. There's no need to go through so much trouble…

"Alexis..." he says softly as he takes her hand into his. "What you're going through… You shouldn't go through it alone. And yes, right now you may feel fine, but if you don't deal with it… It'll only get worse" he looks at her almost pleadingly when she finally turns her head to face him.

"Fine" she sighs after a few seconds. "But I won't like it" deep inside, she knows he's right. It's for the better.

He nods his head and squeezes her hand before getting up and leaving the room.

* * *

A couple of days later, she starts going to a therapist twice a week.

After a couple of weeks, Castle notices she seems to be doing better. She doesn't seem to be having so much trouble sleeping, and she's talking to her friends again – which she didn't feel comfortable doing for a couple of days after the incident.

One afternoon, he receives some mail from Gina. It's the schedule for his next book tour. He goes through it quickly. Same cities, same amount of time. The usual.

He debates internally for a while. He has never taken Alexis to one of his tours before, and she won't have any school during it…

He figures it could be a good experience, and it won't hurt to have some time with Beckett. He hasn't needed her since the day of the incident with Alexis, and he finds himself wondering how she's doing.

He walks thoughtful into Alexis' room.

"What's up dad?" she turns around in her chair to face him.

"I was just thinking…" he sits on the edge of the bed in front of her. "Would you like to go with me on my next book tour?"

She narrows her eyes at him, intrigued. He had always left her with her grandmother when he left for his tours.

"It starts in about two weeks, and since you'll be off school… I figured you'd want to come" he bites his lower lip waiting for her answer.

"Where are we going?" she smiles after a moment's consideration. _Why not?_

He grins at her answer and shows her the schedule. "Beckett is going too, so if you want to leave the amazing world of crazy fans and long hours of book-signings, you can always visit the city"

"Sounds good"

* * *

The next morning, while Alexis is in school, Castle calls Beckett over for the first time in over two weeks. He calls her to talk about something, she asks what, but he insists on telling her in person.

On the way to his loft, her mind wanders to the last time they saw each other, when she let boundaries slip. She's hoping that this talk or the fact that he hasn't called her has nothing to do with that. _Boundaries are important. They're there for a reason. _She can't start getting personal.

She takes a deep breath before knocking on the door. _That can't happen again._

* * *

He had called her because of business, but in his mind there's also that fleeting moment. That moment when the real Kate Beckett was before his eyes. He's pretty sure he won't see her like that again anytime soon, but he'd be glad to.

He hears a knock at the door, so he gets up from his desk to answer.

"Mr. Castle" she greets.

"Come on in"

She closes the door behind her and follows him into the lounge. She sits in her usual place in front of him.

"Let's get to it" he decides not to goof around this time. As much as he'd like to get to know her better, he doesn't want to make her feel uncomfortable either.

She's thankful that he's not playing around today. She wouldn't have been bothered, but she appreciates his consideration.

She knows that he didn't miss it. That moment. He saw what he was doing to her. But he didn't say anything or make any inappropriate comment. She realizes she's starting to like him.

_Careful there, Beckett._

"I'll be going on a book tour in two weeks, and I'm taking Alexis. I'm going to need you to come with us" he looks at her expectantly, waiting for an answer.

"I…" she's caught by surprise. She was expecting anything but that. "Where are you going?"

"Um…" he walks over to his desk to get some papers. "Some cities here in the US" he says as he walks back into the room and hands her the papers. "Ten cities in thirteen days"

She glances at the paper taking a quick look at the cities and dates.

"Of course all your expenses will be covered, you'll travel with us and have your own rooms and everything"" he explains.

"Okay" _it's not like she has a choice anyway._

"All the details are in there"

She nods and looks at him expectantly. "Need anything else?"

"Um… No, that's it"

She gets up. "Call me if you need me, then"

"Bye" he says as she walks out of the loft.

* * *

In two weeks' time, they're all hopping into a cab in front of Castle's building.

They ride together to the airport in silence. They're flying to the first city: Seattle.

At the airport, they get a little delayed in Security because Beckett has her gun in her luggage, but that's quickly sorted out.

In the plane, they're of course in first-class. Alexis is sitting by the window and Castle is by her side. On the other side of the aisle is Beckett.

The young girl is engrossed on a copy of _City of Bones_ and the writer is sipping a glass of wine.

"You sure you don't want some?" he asks her.

"I'm on duty" she states simply.

"Fine" he shrugs.

She rests her head against the seat and closes her eyes for a moment. Not to sleep, but just to relax.

Castle starts getting bored, so he decides to try to get to know his bodyguard better. "So you used to be a cop" he not so much asks as states.

"Mm-hmm" she mumbles without looking at him.

He narrows his eyes at her, and sees the usual closed up, serious expression on her face. "Tell me something, you ever have any fun?"

That makes her open her eyes and face him.

"Y'know, let your hair down. Drop your top. Little Cops Gone Wild"

"You do know I've got a gun" she _warns_ him. She's a little bored herself, so she decides to engage in his conversation.

He grins. But then he drops his head to the side wondering. "Why?

"Why, what?"

"I mean, why are you a cop?"

"It just... happened" she knows better, but she's not about to share her dark and bitter past with her boss.

"No, it couldn't have just happened" _there's always a story_. "Under normal circumstances, you should not be here. Most smart, good looking women become lawyers, not cops. And yet here you are. Why?"

"I don't know, Castle. You're the novelist. You tell me" she dares him with a smile.

He pauses for a second considering his options, and decides to go for the truth. "Well, you're not bridge and tunnel, no trace of the boroughs when you talk. So that means Manhattan, that means money.

"You went to college, probably a pretty good one. You had options. Yeah, you had lots of options, better options, more socially acceptable options. And you still chose this. That tells me something happened. Not to you. No, you're wounded but you're not that wounded.

"It was somebody you cared about. It was someone you loved. And you probably could've lived with that, but the person responsible was never caught. And that, Beckett, is why you're here" he eyes her carefully, seriously.

Her daring smile slowly falters until she's completely serious. "Cute trick. But don't think you know me" she says bitterly as she lays her head against the seat and closes her eyes again. _That's exactly why she can't start getting personal._ Sooner or later one of them will get hurt. And she can't have that.

_I don't_. But her reaction tells him he's right on the money.

* * *

**AN: Thanks for all the favorties/foloows/reviews!**


	7. Chapter 7

**AN: Just a thought… Throughout the story, and as the relationship progresses, I am going to hint dialogue or situations from the show. It's like I'm going to build the relationship similarly, but in a different setting and at a different pace, which I think should be interesting. Hopefully you'll find it that way too! **

* * *

During the next almost 6 hours of flight, he only talks with Alexis. Beckett barely says a word.

She keeps herself busy reading a book. And that book happens to be _Storm Rising._ It's one of her favorite books. She's not sure what she was thinking by bringing one of _his _books with her, but she did. She's cringing at the thought of him gloating, though. _Looks like I have a fan! _She can almost picture him.

Ugh.

She has read every one of his books at least once. They have something in them that just… gets to her. I mean, when she was a cop she solved murders all day; you would think that the last thing that she would want to do when she got home was read about them.

But his books saved her. All those years ago she was falling apart and those books, those stories, kept her together.

_That's it. It's the story. _How can people do such terrible things to one another? How could someone… _do what they did to her mother? _Her mind inevitably goes there.

She suddenly feels overwhelmed by her thoughts and takes a couple of deep breaths. She sometimes forgets how dangerous her wandering soul can be.

Castle is halfheartedly paying attention to the in-flight movie. He notices the title of Beckett's book in the corner of his eye and is pleasantly surprised. _Looks like I have a fan! _He smiles to himself. But he doesn't comment on it, figuring he already pushed enough for one day.

They get out of the airport at about 9 pm, so they go straight to the hotel.

It's a very nice 2-room suite. Beckett takes the one with one bed and Castle and Alexis share the one with two.

At about 8 the next morning, Beckett realizes Alexis and Castle are already up, so she starts getting ready.

By the time she's out, she finds the girl sitting on the couch with her gaze fixed on her phone. "Morning"

"Good morning" Alexis smiles as she takes her eyes away from her phone to meet Beckett's.

"Where's you dad?" Beckett scans the room looking for him.

"He's getting ready"

Beckett nods in response. She's standing awkwardly in front of her room, not sure of what to do next. "So… Where do you want to go today?"

Alexis' eyes light up at the question. "There's this great museum here, the Seattle Art Museum. I'd love to go there"

"Then that's where we're going" Beckett smiles back. She's surprised – that is, pleasantly surprised – at the girl's choice. She was half expecting to spend the day following her around malls and outlets for hours on end.

"Good morning, Beckett" Castle interrupts her train of thought when he gets out of his room.

"Morning"

"Have you decided where you're going?" he looks at his daughter.

"The Seattle Art Museum" she beams.

"Good choice" he's always taken aback about how lucky he is to have this bright, intelligent girl as his daughter. "Now, let's head downstairs. There's a Starbucks across the street. We can get breakfast there"

Once inside the coffee shop, Castle tells Beckett and Alexis to sit down and asks them what they want.

"I'll take care of it" the bodyguard says. She's the one who's working for them after all.

"I-" he's about to protest, but she cuts him off.

"_I_ will take care of it" she insists.

"Okay" he throws his hands in the air in surrender before he sits down by Alexis' side.

They tell her what they want and she walks over to the counter.

Castle gets up to help her carry the beverages to the table once they're ready, earning an eye-roll from Beckett.

Truth be told, a few moments ago she was actually trying to figure out she'd take everything to the table all by herself.

They eat their breakfast mostly in silence. When they're done, Castle hands Alexis a credit card and tells her and Beckett to enjoy their day.

When he's almost at the door, he turns back to look at them. "Oh, and don't come back too late"

Beckett nods.

"Why?" Alexis asks him.

"I have reservations at the space needle at 7" he beams. The moment he knew he was coming to Seattle he _had _to make reservations for the needle, which are extremely hard to get, especially for dinner, but he knows people. "Hope you brought something fancy to wear, Beckett"

"I-" she's taken aback. She doesn't have anything to wear! And she won't let him spend more than he has to on her by taking her to fancy dinners. "I don't think I should go... Besides, I don't have anything to wear" she r_eally _doesn't want to go.

"Don't worry about that" he smirks. "I've got it covered" he turns around and leaves.

Beckett's left with a confused expression on her face. She shakes her head to clear her thoughts. She'll deal with that later. "Ready to go?" She looks at the teenager, who nods in response.

A couple of hours later, Beckett and Alexis are enjoying the museum, both being art aficionados.

At lunch time, they're eating in the restaurant that's inside the museum. After taking a bite of her sandwich, Beckett decides to go ahead and ask the girl what has been running around in her head since this morning. "Alexis, can I ask you something?"

"Sure"

"Why did you decide to go to a museum instead of… I don't know, going shopping? I mean, it's not a bad thing… I'm just… curious" she doesn't want to make the girl uncomfortable.

Alexis smiles at the question. She's aware that sometimes she doesn't exactly fit the teenager stereotype. "Well, I find art really interesting, and appreciating everything the world has to offer is just… Great" she pauses. "Besides, I do enough shopping when my mom's around"

Beckett nods and gives her a little smile.

"They got divorced when I was young" Alexis answers the unasked question. She can see in the bodyguard's eyes that she's curious about that, but she probably won't dig deeper.

Beckett's eyes widen a little at the confession. She was wondering about that, but she wasn't planning on asking.

"Oh" she sees the surprise in Beckett's eyes. "I- I didn't mean to-"

"No, it's okay" Beckett cuts her off as she smiles. She's actually touched at the fact that she wants to open up to her.

Alexis nods timidly. "It's just that… She's more of a crazy aunt with a credit card. I mean, I love her, I do. But I never really get to hang out with her…" she explains. "Dad has been always there for me, though" a little smile appears on her face.

Beckett nods understandingly. _God! _She misses her mother so much.

"I know he acts like a kid sometimes" she says with a sincerity that makes Beckett look back up into the girl's eyes. "But when he has to be an adult, he's the most caring, most responsible person you could ever meet…"

Beckett's left speechless by this. She really, _really_ wants to hate him – it's easier if she hates him. Hate is easier than… _the alternative_. But it's getting harder and harder by the minute.

"Well" Alexis breaks her out of her reverie. "Maybe, not the most responsible person _ever_" her eyes recover their twinkle when she smiles. "But he is pretty great when you get to know him"

Beckett smiles back.

A few moments later, when they're done eating and they're waiting for the check, Alexis decides it's her turn to ask a question. "Can_ I_ ask you something?"

"Go ahead" it's her turn. Tit for tat.

"How or why did you become a bodyguard?" she's actually pretty curious about how people become bodyguards.

"Well" she figures she didn't hear her conversation with Castle, for which she's glad. She doesn't need the sympathy or the questions. _At least not yet. _"I used to be a cop, but I got laid off because of budget cuts" _freaking politics. _"Being a bodyguard wasn't my first choice" _it wasn't a choice at all actually. _"But I couldn't keep making my dad pay for my bills, so I decided to become a bodyguard. Which was pretty easy considering my background in law-enforcement" _pretty easy… _yeah right! "So… Here I am"

"Wow, quite the story" the young girl smiles.

"Tell me about it" Beckett chuckles softly.

"Well… I'm glad you ended up with us" the teenager says quietly, almost afraid to scare the bodyguard off.

Truth be told, she _is_ scared. Not by her Principals, but by how quickly and easily she's bonding with the young girl and how much she actually cares about Castle. "Me too" she takes the teenager's hand and squeezes it softly before they get up. "Shall we continue?" Beckett grins.

"We shall" Alexis smiles back.

* * *

**AN: Please, feel free to point out any mistakes or inaccuracies.**


	8. Chapter 8

When they come back to the hotel room at 4 that afternoon, Castle's not there yet. Alexis heads to her room. Right before Beckett walks to her own bedroom, the writer steps into the suite.

"Hey Beckett" he smiles.

"Hello, sir" she nods.

_Formalities again… _He sighs. "How did it go today?"

"Everything went well" she says matter-of-factly.

He eyes her carefully. She looks shifty. She's playing with her hands and her posture is stiff.

She's standing awkwardly a few feet from him. Not sure of what her thoughts are doing. _He's good. He's a good, loving and caring guy… _Yeah, so?

"Oh, you seem a little stressed" he tries to lighten the mood. "You know what you need? A night out on the town" he gives her a charming smile.

"A what, now?" she furrows her brow in confusion before she remembers. "I already told you I'd be more comfortable not going"

"Come on! It'll be fun! I have three places!" he tries to convince her. "Besides, it could be _really _dangerous" he says in faux-seriousness.

She rolls her eyes at his antics. She doesn't really see a way out.

He takes that as a yes and grins excitedly. "And remember, it's a black-tie event"

"_And remember_, I already told you I don't have anything" this is getting annoying.

_Oh, so she hasn't seen it yet. _"That's not a problem" he turns around and walks to his room.

Beckett's left standing there wondering what he meant before shaking her head and getting into her own room. When she steps in she sees a white box on the bed.

_He didn't._

She goes towards her bed and takes the note that's on the box. It reads "Bibbity-Bobbity-Boo"

_He did!_

_Ugh_. She throws the note on the bed and proceeds to open the box. _I knew he was arrogant, but this? This is comple- Oh._

Her train of thought is cut off when she sees the gorgeous dress inside the box. She shakes her head and scoffs before she smiles to herself.

_If he wasn't her boss… _She stops right there, not wanting her thoughts to betray her. She sighs before she starts getting ready.

She steps out of her room shyly. She's not sure about her attire. She finds Castle is all fixed up and in a tux. They're both surprised at the other's looks.

Castle is the first one to recover. "I really am ruggedly handsome, aren't I?" he says smugly when he catches her staring. "You clean up nice, Beckett" he smiles sincerely.

"Thank you, Castle" she rolls her eyes but takes the compliment.

"Are you wearing your gun?" he asks when he takes a closer look.

She nods, not wanting to go into details.

"Really?" he has to know.

"Don't ask" she retorts pointedly.

"Shall we get going?" the writer says reverentially when Alexis steps out of the room wearing a nice red dress.

Both just nod in response.

"Why are we going there, anyway?" the bodyguard asks as they get out of the suite. She's still confused at the details of why they're dressed so elegantly.

"Well… I've never been there before. And people from my book agency are meeting us there" he explains as they get into the elevator. "They're holding an event with some of the industry and some of their best writers" he smirks.

"Really?" she looks at him as he nods solemnly. "Then why did they invite you?" she lifts her eyebrow and gives him the hint of a smile. She had to say it. It was too easy to pass up.

Alexis chuckles and Castle acts deeply hurt, but when Beckett turns around, he smiles.

"And what will you go in as this time, Beckett?" he asks when they're in the car.

"We already talked about this. I can be your PA" he wants to say something but she interrupts him with a stern look. "I will not go in as your girlfriend"

"Why would I take my PA to a party? And dressed like that?" there are obvious problems with that. There's only one option left.

She sighs in resignation. He's right. "Fine"

They get dropped off at the Space Needle and they go inside. They take the elevator to the restaurant. When they get to the top, they find a nice restaurant, one side since to be separated from the rest, it's probably the event they're there for.

They join the rest of the party and Castle starts introducing his daughter and his _girlfriend. _Beckett's doing her best to keep a smile on her face. At some point, Gina walks over to them and introduces Alexis to a couple of other teenagers. The girl walks away with them, leaving Castle and Beckett alone.

"Can I get you a drink?" he asks her.

"Yeah, vodka. Lots of vodka" she says quickly, but then corrects herself. "But, I'm on duty, so, water?"

"Yeah" he scoffs. "Vodka!" he exclaims with a smile as he walks towards the bar.

"Don't you dare" she heard him.

She scans the room and follows him with her eyes to the bar when he starts talking to someone, then a woman walks up to her.

"Don't sweat it, that's Rachel, one of Black Pawn's lawyers" she tells her. "Oh, I'm Ruthie" she introduces 's the kind of woman that makes a new best friend every time she gets on a plane or goes to yoga. She extends her hand to Beckett.

"I'm Beck…" she interrupts herself when she remembers who she's supposed to be "Kate" she shakes the woman's hand. "Nice to meet you. Do you work for Black Pawn too?"

"No, but I'm the circuit. Besides, men in these parties are like fish in a barrel"

"Really?" Beckett's no that surprised.

She nods. "Not that you need any help from me. I see that you've got a big one on the line" she smiles looking at Castle. "Settle in, Katie. I heard he's a fighter"

"Um… Sorry, Castle?" the bodyguard narrows her eyes.

"Oh, yeah. Most of the girls here have tried to land him. Rich and handsome. We call him the White Whale" Ruthie tells her conspiratorially.

"Really?" Beckett's not sure if she's amused or nauseated.

"Mm-hmm" she nods and then someone calls her. "Oh, sorry. I have to go"

"Sure" Beckett smiles as the woman walks away. Then she shakes her head and rolls her eyes. _This is going to be a long night._

Throughout the evening, Beckett does her job and takes her Principals back home safely.

* * *

The next morning, they leave for Portland.

In the airport they find a coffee shop and decide to get something to eat.

This time, Castle gets the food while Alexis and Beckett wait outside.

He gives Alexis her stuff and then hands Beckett a bag and a cup of coffee. "Grande skim latte, two pumps sugar-free vanilla, and a bear claw"

She takes them surprised he knows her drink. "How did you know..."

"I'm a novelist. It's my job to notice things"

She eyes him suspiciously and nods.

They're in the city for only a few hours. They don't even check into a hotel. Beckett and Alexis spend their time reading at the library where Castle's signing.

At 7 that afternoon, they're in the plane for LA.

They check into the hotel after 9 that night. Beckett notices that he reserved two rooms. One being the same kind of suite they had in Seattle and another room across the hall from that one.

"Why do you have two rooms?"

"I'm throwing a party" he grins.

She nods. _Of course he is._ "Tonight?" she narrows her eyes suspiciously.

"Indeed" you have no idea how quick a party can be started in LA, especially with his connections and most importantly, his money.

Castle gets ready in their suite. "Have fun" he smiles at Alexis and Beckett before he leaves to the other room, receiving an eye-roll from the bodyguard.

"And _you_ don't have too much fun" Alexis warns him before he leaves.

It's past eleven now and music is still playing loud, well, as loud as it can be played in a hotel.

"Dad's going to get in trouble…" Alexis sighs. She's snuggled up on the couch watching a movie on the flat-screen TV. She's already in her pajamas but didn't even try to get to sleep.

"Want me to go over there?" the bodyguard, who's sitting on the armchair, offers. She's still fully clothed.

"No, it's okay. He probably won't listen anyway" the teen shrugs.

Beckett nods in understanding.

A few minutes later, they hear a loud crash and the sound of glass breaking, presumably from the room across the hall.

The bodyguard immediately holsters her gun. "Stay here" she tells Alexis.

She gets into the hall in full combat mode. Before she opens the door she takes a deep breath and gets ready to jump into action.

When she opens the door, she's met with a sight that makes her jaw drop in shock…

* * *

**AN: Here you go! Hope you're still with me!**

**On other news... Didn't you just hate/love the season finale?**

**Anywho... Thanks for the favorites/follows/reviews!**


	9. Chapter 9

_She gets into the hall in full combat mode. Before she opens the door she takes a deep breath and gets ready to jump into action._

_When she opens the door, she's met with a sight that makes her jaw drop in shock…_

* * *

She's immediately on the look-out for her Principal between the dancing and partying crowd. Before she can step deeper into the room, he's the one to find her.

"Beckett!" he walks over to where she is with a bottle of champagne in hand.

"What the hell happened?" she's pissed alright, but she still examines him with her eyes to make sure nothing happened to him.

"We're just having a good time!" he says unbothered over the loud music.

"There is a freaking hole in the window!" she looks at the window in question, that's has a hole in the middle, and then back at him waiting for an explanation.

"That's actually a very funny story" he chuckles. "You see-"

He interrupts himself when he sees a guy in a suit flanked by two security guards at the door.

Beckett turns around and when she sees the guys, comes to the conclusion that's the manager and they're about to get thrown out. She sighs as she runs a hand over her face.

"Mr. Castle" says the manager.

"Yes?" _busted._

"You have 20 minutes to clear both your rooms. And you'll have to pay a fine for the damages" the manager states matter-of-factly and then leaves.

Beckett turns around to glare at Castle_. Did he just get them kicked out of the hotel? Really? _She bites the inside of her lip and doesn't say anything. She walks over to the stereo and turns the music off. "Party's over! Everybody out!" she yells to the crowd.

In a couple minutes everybody has left and Beckett's still glaring at Castle. "And what are you going to tell Alexis?"

The whole time he plays with the bad-boy attitude. After all, this hasn't been the first time he's been thrown out of a hotel. But when she mentions his daughter he actually realizes how stupid this all is.

She's a little proud of herself when she sees the obvious shift of attitude from her boss. She gets the party, she even gets the stupidity, but the fact that he has his daughter there to look after should mean something.

"What happened?" Alexis asks Beckett when she barges into the suite.

"Ask your dad" she says simply before stepping into her room. He did something incredibly stupid and he's going to have to own up to it.

"Dad?" the teen looks at him expectantly. When he doesn't say anything, she sighs remembering all the stories he had told her about his crazy parties in hotels and how they usually ended with him being thrown out. "Did they throw us out?" she's clearly not happy about it.

"A little bit, yes…" he bites his lower lip.

Alexis rolls her eyes and goes to her room to change and pack.

They make it downstairs right before the 20 minutes run out. Before they get into a cab he calls Gina.

"Rick, what did I tell you last time? Our job is to get you into a hotel, but if you get thrown out, it's none of our business. You're going to have to find a place yourself" it's almost midnight and Gina's not taking any of it.

"Come on, Gi-" he can't even finish his sentence and she has already hung up. "Great" he mutters under his breath. He thinks about what to do for a second before he remembers something. He dials another number and figures he can still have a good time tonight.

Next thing you know they're in a cab. Beckett hopped into the front seat and Castle and Alexis are in the back.

"So, where are we staying?" the bodyguard asks the writer.

"With my ex-wife" he states simply.

This takes Beckett by surprise. She was expecting anything but that. "Wh- which one?" she knows one of them is Alexis' mother and the other one is her publicist. Given that Gina lives in New York, they're probably paying a visit to the first wife.

"Alexis' mother. Meredith"

"Oh" Beckett nods.

They're at the building in no time. Meredith is at the door to receive them.

She hugs Alexis and Castle and then notices Beckett. "And this is…" she asks Castle.

"Beckett, she's my-" Castle can't help but tease, though the bodyguard beats him to it.

"I'm his bodyguard"

"Really?" Meredith thought something else was going on.

"What?" Castle wonders.

"Nothing" she smiles. "It's just… I thought that you two were together is all"

"Not yet" he snickers at the same time Beckett gives him a firm "No!"

Meredith looks at them amusedly. "Let's go then"

They go up to her apartment. It's not as big as Castle's, but it's still pretty luxurious.

Alexis gets the guest room, Beckett offers to sleep on the couch and Castle doesn't seem to have a problem with sleeping in Meredith's room.

The bodyguard has a hard time getting to sleep. Let's just say Meredith and Castle are not exactly… _quiet_. Exhaustion finally takes over and she slips into a deep slumber.

Next morning she's up pretty early, mainly because the acrobatics in Castle's ex-wife's room seem to have started again. She shakes her head and gets up. She folds the sheets and then takes some clothes from her luggage to change into.

She emerges from the bathroom wearing her regular _work-_clothes after taking a shower. Nobody's out of their rooms yet and she's not too sure of what to do with herself, so she settles on reading.

A while later Alexis comes out of her room and into the kitchen. "Good morning" she smiles at the bodyguard.

"Morning" Beckett looks up from her book.

Then, Castle and Meredith come out of her room laughing and practically glowing. _Ugh. _Well, actually, he looks a little worried…

"Good morning" Castle says trying not to seem too bothered by the bombshell Meredith just threw him.

"Morning" Beckett replies dryly.

Castle eyes the bodyguard carefully wondering the reason of her reaction, but then shrugs it off remembering what he did last night.

"So, um… What are the plans for the day?" Beckett asks her boss wanting to shake certain images out of her head.

"Well, Meredith is taking Alexis shopping" the writer explains while taking some things out of the refrigerator to make breakfast. "So I figured you can come with me today"

Beckett nods.

During breakfast Castle, Meredith and Alexis get deep into conversation, something about Meredith moving back to New York… Meanwhile both Alexis and Castle don't seem too comfortable with the idea. But Beckett practically channels the whole thing out while being lost in her own thoughts.

She's his ex-wife, but they're still having sex? How does that even work? Yes, Richard Castle isn't exactly what you would call a normal kind of guy… But, _seriously?_ She doesn't get it, and she's also pretty sure she won't ever completely get _him._

Oh, well. He's her boss. She doesn't _have _to get him.

_Are you sure about that?_ An annoying little voice at the back of her head – which has made its presence known more often recently – asks.

She shakes her head in an effort to clear the circling thoughts right when she gets up and takes her plate and mug to the sink.

When they're done with breakfast, Castle and Beckett leave the apartment.

When they're in the cab, the driver asks them where they're going, but Castle doesn't answer. Beckett looks at him and notices that he seems a little lost. "Hello?"

"Hmm" he snaps out of it and looks at her, who in turn glances at the driver who's still waiting for an answer. "Right, um, to the LA Public Library" the driver nods as he pulls into traffic.

"You okay?" Beckett asks him.

"I had sex with my ex-wife" he says mostly to himself, like he was just realizing what he did.

_Really? _Beckett rolls her eyes. She really doesn't need to know more.

"And she's thinking about moving back to New York. Do you know what that would mean to me? That would be a very special brand of hell. The hell of a deep-fried Twinkie" he actually looks horrified.

"A _what?_" okay, now she's lost.

"A deep-fried Twinkie" he repeats. "The guilty pleasure that you know is bad for you, so you only do it once, maybe twice a year for the novelty. But a deep-fried Twinkie every day is..." he shudders at the thought.

"Ugh" she rolls her eyes and decides to not inquire further. Yeah, she'll never understand him.

They get to the library and everything goes down without a glitch. At the end he has to talk to someone from Black Pawn, so Beckett's left perusing the shelves.

When he comes back, he finds her in the mystery section and smiles to himself. This seems like a good moment to talk to her about it. "So you like mystery novels…" he says casually, hoping she's in the mood to share.

Turns out, she isn't. "And you call your ex-wife 'a deep-fried Twinkie'" she retorts.

"Oh, trust me. As annoying and intrusive as you think I am, she's a million times worse"

"What about Alexis? Maybe she misses her mom. Maybe it would be a good idea to have her back in town" she knows the daughter-mother relationship between them isn't exactly easy, but maybe this could help them. From her experience… Well, maybe she shouldn't go there.

"Yeah, right" she has no idea. "This once, when Alexis was nine, Meredith dropped by to take her out to lunch"

"So?"

"In Paris. Paris! And then she acted like there was nothing wrong. She's like Auntie Mame on meth" he's dead serious. Bringing Meredith back to New York wouldn't be good for _anyone._

"If she's so bad, then why'd you sleep with her this morning?"

"Let me tell you something about crazy people. The sex is unbelievable" and that's a fact he has proven _many _times. But that's a story for later.

_Is he serious? _"How shallow are you?"

"Very" he teases.

She rolls her eyes. She doesn't have time for this. "Should we get going?"

He nods, but not before taking a good look at her. She looks annoyed alright, but there's something else there. Is that… Does he detect a little jealousy in those seemingly-impenetrable, but beautiful eyes? He smirks a little gesturing for her to lead the way.

But she's not jealous. At all.

_Are you sure?_

* * *

**AN: So Meredith is in the house! What kind of hell with that ensue?**

**I hope you're still enjoying this as much as I am!**

**Oh, and if there's anything you'd like to see happen during the tour or otherwise, send it my way and I'll see what I can do!**


	10. Chapter 10

Right before they leave, Meredith enters the library with Alexis in tow.

When he sees her, Castle closes his eyes in dread and Beckett gives him an amused look.

Meredith, loaded up with shopping bags, is trying to push her way into the library through the crowd. Alexis is behind her, trying to disappear in a shame spiral. Meredith spots him and waves. "Richard! Over here!"

"Meredith, what a surprise" how did he ever think getting in contact with his ex-wife was a good idea? This is all probably karma biting him in the ass for trying to have a good time after he had already had too much of a good time.

"I know. Isn't it great?" she says oblivious to Castle's annoyance. "You're taking us out to dinner" she doesn't really leave room for arguing.

"Of course…" why not? It's not like he has been humiliated enough today.

"The restaurants here are unbelievable" Meredith tells Beckett as if she didn't have an idea of how great LA is. "Don't you just love this town?"

"More and more by the minute" she has to admit she's enjoying seeing Castle cringe. "Let me help you with that" she takes a couple of Meredith's bags.

"Shall we get going?" Meredith says.

They leave to her apartment. Beckett drops the bags on the table and stands around awkwardly while the rest start getting ready to go out. She's not sure if she's invited.

"Beckett" Castle comes out of his room wearing a nice blue shirt and struggling with the cufflink. "Aren't you going to get ready?"

"I… I didn't think I was invited"

"Well, you are"

"Oh" she nods. "But I'm not wearing the dress" It was nice and all, but she's in the job after all. She'll be more comfortable in her regular professional attire.

"Alright" he smiles.

Before she starts getting ready, she thinks about helping him with his cufflink. "Do you want me to-" right when she's about to step closer to him, Meredith steps out of the room, turns him around seductively and helps him.

"Thanks" he smiles. "What were you saying?" he turns around to look at Beckett.

"Never mind" she shakes her head and starts gathering her clothes to change.

An hour later, they're sitting in a round table at a fancy restaurant. Castle has Meredith on one side and Alexis in the other. They've already ordered and now they're waiting for their food.

"So, how's the writing going?" Meredith asks the writer before taking a sip from her wine.

"It was going a little slow, but lately I've been… Inspired" he throws a sideways glace at the bodyguard, who doesn't seem to notice.

He was having trouble writing until she got into his life. For some reason words have been flowing ever since.

"Oh" Meredith nods. "You know" she confides to Beckett. "I was his inspiration once"

"Were you, now?"

"Still am from time to time" she smiles devilishly. "Right, kitten?"

"Kitten?" Beckett smirks and tries not to laugh while Castle tries to disappear into thin air running his hand over his face.

"I had this dream once, only I was naked and far less embarrassed"

_Of course, _Beckett rolls her eyes. Honestly, she's enjoying seeing someone pushing his buttons for a change, given how hell-bent he seems to be on pushing hers.

The rest of the evening goes by smoothly – except for Castle's ego, which ends up badly bruised, and that doesn't seem to bother anyone but him, especially not Beckett who actually enjoyed the evening.

The next day, starts pretty much the same as the previous one. Alexis stays with Meredith and Castle takes Beckett to the signing.

By lunch time, the writer and his bodyguard are at a diner eating. At some point he starts making phone calls, to which she doesn't really pay attention to, until it's time to pay and get back to the signing and he's still on the phone.

"What are you doing?" she asks once he hangs up.

"I'm calling in some favors. Like I told you, I can't have Meredith back in New York"

She looks at him disapprovingly but he ignores it. He pays the check and they head back to the library.

While Castle is signing books, Beckett spots Meredith once again making her way into the library – this time without the shopping bags – basically dragging Alexis behind her. She narrows her eyes wondering what they're doing here again. She decides to join them, instead of them coming and interrupting Castle's signing.

"Oh, Beckett" Meredith says when she sees the bodyguard. "Can you take care of Alexis? I have a meeting to get to"

"Sure…" she can barely manage to say before the woman is already rushing outside. "Hey" she greets Alexis.

"Hey…" she says shyly. She knows her mother's a piece of work.

"Come on" Beckett puts her arm over the teen's shoulder and they walk towards where Castle's signing. The teen gets a book and finds a seat.

The writer notices his daughter and gives her a smile which she mirrors, before getting back to his fans. He's a little confused as to why she's there, but he's not complaining.

A while later they're back at Meredith's apartment gathering their stuff to leave.

When Beckett's almost done with her luggage, Alexis comes out of her room and goes into her father's.

The teen finds Castle folding some stuff and putting them in one of his suitcases. "Dad?"

"Yeah, sweetie?" he lifts his gaze to meet hers after he closes the valise.

"Hypothetically... Is it okay to love someone, but not want them around all the time?" she plays with her fingers nervously. She feels like such a terrible person for thinking like this.

"You mean mom?"

"I love her, I do" she says quickly.

"I know you do. And I'm glad you do" he doesn't push. He's pretty sure he knows where she's going though. He's been there.

"But, dad... She drives me crazy" she decides to be honest.

"Yeah. That's what moms do" he smiles. He's got one just like that.

"But if she moves back to New York…" her eyes widen, begging him to so something to stop her.

They hear the door open. "Richard? Richard? Alexis?" Meredith calls them.

Alexis makes a pained expression and Castle chuckles. She really does feel terrible. "Your secret's safe with me" he smiles reassuringly.

Alexis makes a huge sigh and Castle steers her into the living room. Beckett steps into the bathroom when they come out of the room, partially because she doesn't want to intrude.

"You will not believe what happened" she tells them excited. "I got a call from my agent. I've been offered a huge role in a new indie film"

"Wow. Mom, that's awesome" Alexis smiles.

"It is. But, here's the bad news, sweetie" she pauses to let her terrible news sink in. "I'm going to have to put my plans to move back to New York on hold" she sighs.

"That's okay, Mom" Alexis is a little too quick to say. "It sounds like a huge opportunity"

"It really is" Meredith is a little disappointed, but she can always visit them.

Alexis is visibly more relaxed. She really does love her mother… from a distance.

"Oh, well" Castle sighs in faux-disappointed.

"I'm sorry" Beckett interrupts. "We should probably get going" she looks at her boss. They have to get on the road soon.

"Right" Castle and Alexis head back to their respective bedrooms and take their luggage out.

Meredith moves to hug Alexis once they're at the door. "There's so much fun stuff we didn't get to do. But I'll visit soon, I promise"

"I know. I love you, Mom. Thanks for taking me shopping" though that's pretty much all they ever do together. Meredith hugs Alexis again.

Beckett is the first one out the door, then Alexis and finally Castle, but Meredith takes his hand before he leaves. "You know I always hate to see you go"

"Yeah, well. You know you can always visit" they kiss.

"Bye" she waves before closing the door.

"Okay dad, spill" Alexis says as they're rolling their luggage to the elevator. Beckett smiles at the girl's spot-on analysis of the situation.

"What?" Castle asks innocently.

"What did you do?"

"Nothing" he answers, but she looks at him knowingly. "Oh, my business manager called with an excellent investment opportunity. A small, artsy independent feature"

Alexis shakes her head but smiles.

"Eh, she's perfect for the role" he justifies himself. "I'm doing them the favor... I think" he looks at Alexis as they step out of the elevator. "I hope you don't mind" Beckett made him doubt with their conversation of the day before, but he's still pretty sure he made the right decision.

"Raising one parent's hard enough. I don't know what I'd do if I had to raise two" she grins.

Castle smiles. He loves his girl so much! He pulls her into a hug while Beckett hails them a cab.

The bodyguard throws them a sideways glance and smiles at how that little unconventional family is so functional.

They get to a car-rental agency where they get a car to drive to San Diego that same evening.

Sometime during the two-hour drive to San Diego, Castle becomes restless so he decides to try some conversation with his bodyguard.

"So, Beckett. Was it as painful for you as it was for me?"

"What?" she narrows her eyes wondering what the hell he's talking about this time.

"Reliving my first marriage"

"Oh" she nods. "It was actually pretty entertaining" she smirks.

"I'm glad my misery makes you happy" he says in mock indignation. He's actually glad to see that she was actually enjoying herself, barring the fact that it was because of his suffering.

"So, you've only been married twice?" she knows both his ex-wives, and she wouldn't be surprised if there were more of them.

"Isn't that enough?" he's actually not exactly sure how he managed to get himself into those situations. "How 'bout you?"

"Me? No. Never been" she hasn't really had the time. Or the interest, for that matter.

"Really?" such an intelligent, smart woman surely has at least a couple guys trailing behind her.

"Yep"

"You'd be good at it. You're both controlling and disapproving. You should really try it" he jokes.

She rolls her eyes. "I'm not an '_if at first you don't succeed_…' kind of a girl, Castle. When it comes to marriage, I'm more of a '_one and done_' type" you can't just jump into marriage with the first guy you see. It has to mean something. You have to be able to picture the rest of your life with them, and not being able to see yourself without them.

At least that's what she thinks.

"Hmm" of course she's that kind of girl. "Any serious candidates?" there certainly must be a few.

She briefly gives him a sideways look. "That's enough sharing for today"

"Come on" he pushes further. He's already gotten a couple tidbits; he can get a few more… Or not. She throws him a look that tells him that he should probably back off.

She quickly focuses back on the road. Actually, no, she doesn't really have anyone in her life at the moment and that's okay. But telling him… They've already pushed enough boundaries. She'd like to keep her private life exactly that way.


	11. Chapter 11

As the sun starts to set, they're driving into San Diego. They arrive at yet another five-star hotel and when they're checking in, Castle points out that there's _one _room tonight and Beckett rolls her eyes. There's already been enough craziness for a while, thank you.

They get to their suite and get settled into their own rooms, same as in every city before. They order room service and have a quiet dinner.

The next morning, Castle has the day off, so he asks Alexis what she wants to do.

"I don't know…" she thinks for a second. "Oh!" she says triumphal. "Let's go to the zoo!" they're in San Diego for crying out loud! If they're famous for anything it's for their zoo! And maybe their climate… Anyway, they're going to the zoo.

"Great choice, pumpkin"

Beckett smiles at the idea of going to the zoo. She loved visiting them when she was a kid.

They have a blast while they're there. Castle keeps making silly jokes and buying completely unnecessary souvenirs. Alexis enjoys her day admiring the animals and listening to her father ramble on.

_I'm guarding a twelve-year old that's worse than his twelve-year-old, _Beckett thinks. She either rolls her eyes or chuckles at Castle's antics, all while doing her job of course.

She observes father and daughter carefully through the day and realizes more and more how a great father he is – when he's not being stupid – and how much love he has for his daughter. It's not like she didn't already know this, I mean he hired her to protect Alexis, but sometimes it's easy to forget, especially when he's sending inappropriate advances her way or throwing wild parties that end by them being kicked out of the hotel.

Castle and Beckett sit down on a bench as they look at Alexis admire the birds. The writer stares at his daughter wearing a proud smile on his face – and a silly lion hat on his head. On his periphery he notices Beckett staring at him. "What?" he turns to face her.

"Nothing" she shakes her head and focuses on Alexis. "It's just, I'm so used to you acting like a 12-year-old all the time, it's kind of refreshing to see you as a father" she shrugs. It's not like she hadn't noticed before, but she's realizing it more and more.

"Makes you want me, right?" he smirks. He couldn't help it.

"And there's the 12-year-old again" she nods.

After a moment of silence, he turns his body and leans towards her.

She notices his move and cringes. He's going to try to dig into her personal life again.

"So you like the zoo" he states more than asks.

"How did you know?" she throws him a side-ways look – she's still got her eye on the young girl – and doesn't even try to deny the fact that she adores it.

"Spidey sense" _and the way her eyes lit up when Alexis suggested coming_.

"Yeah, so?"

"Just, you know… Trying to get to know who works for me"

"Oh, so many layers to the Beckett onion. However will you peel them all" she knows that he's been trying to do so since they met. It's not like he's been subtle about it.

He recognizes that he's probably not going to get anything else so he drops it.

They continue browsing through the zoo, and when they get to the elephants he notices the shift in attitude from the bodyguard. She's still doing her job properly, but he catches her staring at the majestic animals more than casually looking at them. There's a deeper meaning somewhere.

When they get to the elephants she stops on her tracks and stands there her gaze on the creatures. Those animals that meant so much to her mother… That mean so much to her. There's just something in them, a sort of wisdom…

She comes back to reality a moment later and realizes she's not doing her job, so the bodyguard focuses on her Principals once again, though she keeps glancing at the animals every once in a while.

They go back to the souvenir store right before they leave, but Castle asks Beckett to stay outside wearing his puppy eyes. She narrows her eyes at him wondering what he has in mind, but after giving the place a once over she begrudgingly accepts, telling them to be quick.

When they're back outside, Alexis and Castle are each holding a bag of their own. Beckett wonders what else he bought – she's already holding another bag full of things – nevertheless, she doesn't say a word.

Once they're back at the hotel, they shower and change before ordering dinner from room service.

Alexis goes to her room after she's done, leaving Beckett finishing her dinner and Castle on the couch writing. When he notices his daughter is gone, he figures this is a great opportunity to give Beckett her surprise so he closes the laptop and goes to his room to get it.

When he's back in the living room, she's left to her room. _Damn, _he thinks to himself. He stands in the middle of the room thinking about what his next move should be. He decides to knock on her door and tell her he has to tell her something. It's not like boundaries have ever stopped him before.

He takes a deep breath – for some reason he's nervous – and walks to her door. He knocks a couple of times before she opens it. She looks at him expectantly, wondering what he wants.

"I… Can I talk to you for a sec?"

"Sure" she debates with herself whether she should let him in or she should join him in the living room… Yeah, they better go to the living room.

She follows him and drops on the couch by his side. "What's up?" she turns her body towards him, placing her leg underneath herself.

"I have something for you" she cocks her head to the side wondering what he's talking about before he hands her the San Diego Zoo gift-shop bag. "I noticed you were staring" he explains before she looks inside.

She takes out a cute little stuffed elephant. Her eyes light up when she sees it before she remembers who it came from. "Wow" it's all she manages to say. "Thank you" she smiles.

"It's just… You know for helping us and keeping us safe and all"

"That's my job" she reminds him, but the fact that he actually noticed and he went out of his way to give her a gift makes her feel… some things.

"So you like elephants" he continues his line of questioning from the zoo.

She rolls her eyes but smiles. "I do"

"Will you tell me why?" he bites his lower lip waiting for an answer.

She turns serious again and hesitates for a second. "They never forget" just like she hasn't forgotten. Even now, that she's following him around instead of trying to hunt those demons down… She hasn't forgotten.

She'll get them. It's taken her longer than she thought it would – and it's only going to get worse until she can get back on the force – but she _will _get them. She _will _hunt them down. She _will _get justice for what they did to her mother.

Castle almost shivers when he hears those words and he sees the grim determined expression on her face that he can't quite understand. He has no idea of the reason of the shift of attitude but he knows it's something big.

And he also knows he shouldn't make any inappropriate comment about it, so he just nods and smiles.

"Thank you, Castle" her expression softens again. "I really appreciate it. But you don't have to buy me things. You're already paying me enough"

"Nonsense" he shakes his head. "Anyway, I'm off to bed. Until tomorrow, Beckett" he says reverentially as he gets up.

"You can't just say 'Night?'" she furrows her brow at his choice of words.

"I'm a writer. 'Night' is boring. 'Until tomorrow' is more… hopeful" he lives his life hoping for the best. Being happy and making others happy is his reason for living.

"Yeah. Well, I was a cop" she's seen the worst in people. She's stare into the eyes of monsters… There's only so much you can hope for.

She gets up from her seat and turns to look at Castle before she disappears into her bedroom. "Night"

He watches her walk away and he can actually see and feel the weight of the world on her shoulders. "Night"

_Making others happy is his reason for living, _he might just have gotten himself a new project.


	12. Chapter 12

The next morning starts like any other for the peculiar trio.

Today, Alexis is visiting a friend with whom she used to go to school until her and her family moved to San Diego. Her father is some multi-millionaire business man, and they invite Alexis to spend the day in their mansion.

Castle knows the family, so he knows Alexis will be okay, therefore, Beckett goes with him.

At lunch time, they go eat at a restaurant just a couple of blocks from the library, so they walk there. They have to go through a park and pass in front of a couple stores on their way. Outside one of those stores there is a newspaper stand and a headline catches Castle's eye. It's about a father of two who was brutally murdered. He stops on his tracks and stares at the grim description.

"What is it?" Beckett asks when she notices he stopped. She follows his line of vision and sees the issue.

"Makes me think about Alexis" he says as he takes his eyes away and continues walking towards the restaurant. "What would she do if something happened to me?" he asks his bodyguard.

"Well, she still has her mom, right?"

"Meredith's more like a crazy aunt with a credit card. Of the two of us, I'm the more responsible one" he thinks about the fact that he _actually is_ the more responsible one… _How did Alexis manage to turn up so well?_ "Pretty sad, isn't it?"

"Well, I wouldn't worry about it too much, Castle. After all, only the good die young" she smirks. It's just so easy sometimes… She can't help it.

"Ouch"

They eat and make their way back to the library. As they're walking through the park, a guy stands up on a bench not too far away from them and starts yelling some crazy ramble. Beckett immediately identifies this as a threat and pushes Castle away from him.

When the guy realizes nobody's listening to him, he takes out his gun. Panic spreads like fire and suddenly everyone starts running and screaming.

Beckett grabs Castle by the arm and pulls him towards her to take him out of there, but he scurries away from the bodyguard.

He sees a little girl, scared and alone not too far away from the gunman in the midst of all the chaos and scared people running around. He feels Beckett tugging his arm to take him away, but he can't just leave that girl there. She's a sitting duck. So he shakes himself away and runs in the girl's direction.

Beckett turns around and runs after Castle wondering what the hell he's doing. "Castle! No!" she yells at him unholstering her gun.

He ignores her and takes the little girl in his arms quickly before turning back towards the bodyguard.

Beckett catches up to him and is surprised by what he's doing, but she doesn't have the time to dwell on it. She puts herself between the gunman – who's still yelling at the scared crowd – and Castle, who starts running back away from him while shielding the little girl in his arms.

When the guy starts pointing his gun at people, someone from the crowd – a very strong someone – sends a fairly heavy trash can hurling through the air and hitting the guy on the head, knocking him to the ground.

Beckett swears under her breath, this just made her job way more difficult than it already was. When he gets up, he's going to start shooting with no mercy.

"Stay here" she tells Castle before hurrying towards the guy still pointing her weapon.

Beckett notices he's trying to reach for his gun – which was knocked from his hand when he fell – he manages to take it but she steps on his wrist before he can do anything with it. She points her weapon directly at him. "Go ahead" she dares him. "I need the practice" she says unflinching.

The guy is sane enough to recognize that it's over so he drops the gun and drops limply on the ground in surrender.

Right then, two uniforms point their guns at her and the guy, commanding her to drop her weapon. She puts her gun back in the holster and takes out her bodyguard license. She shows it to the cops, telling them that she knows what she's doing – all while keeping her foot on the guy's wrist. One of the uniforms lowers his weapon while the other one keeps his pointed to the gunman.

"We've got it from here, Miss" the cop tells her picking up the guy's gun. "We're going to have to need you to tell us what happened, though"

She looks around the park and spots plenty of people – some on the verge of a panic attack, though – that could give their statement. "I see plenty of witnesses. Ask them" she tells them and she rushes towards her Principal.

She finds him near the sidewalk kneeling in front of the little girl. "Castle, are you okay?" she goes ahead and stares him down and sees that he's not visibly injured.

"Yeah"

"And the girl?" she takes a clear look at the child too. She looks about four years old. She's got short blond hair and she's clutching a little bunny in her hands. She looks scared out of her mind, starring at both adults with big, frightened blue eyes.

"She seems to be okay… Though she's not talking much" he has tried talking to her and all she says is _'I want mommy'_ in a quiet voice. "I just know that she wants her mom" he raises to his feet.

After making sure they're okay, she goes ahead and shows him how pissed he is for what he just pulled on her. "Castle, what the hell were you thinking?!" she turns him to face her and she hisses at him.

"I was thinking that there was a little girl that was just a sitting duck" he hisses back. He won't apologize for doing what he did.

Beckett runs her hand over her face as she sighs in frustration. Fact is, she admires what he did and she would've done the exact same thing. Problem is, him getting himself killed is not exactly good for business.

"Look, Castle" she says after she calms down. "I'm just here to protect you, and if you keep getting yourself into dangerous situations I can't guarantee your safety" she looks at him straight in the eyes. She needs him to understand. "And if you don't care about yourself" she says a little more harshly than she intended. "Think about Alexis" she makes reference to their earlier conversation.

The thing is, he _was _thinking about Alexis. What if that was his daughter? He just can't envision her getting hurt. "I appreciate what you do for us Beckett. I really do" he says sincerely. "But I just couldn't leave her there" he looks down at the child who's hiding behind his leg.

Beckett nods and she drops it. "We need to take her to the police"

Castle agrees and he takes the girl into his arms. They walk towards the cops, who're still taking statements from witnesses and have called reinforcements. One of the uniforms is trying to calm down a crying woman who seems distressed.

The woman notices the couple and the child and breaks down. "Oh, my God" she says visibly relieved as she runs towards Castle and Beckett.

"Mommy!" the girl in the writer's arms squeals with joy as she recognizes her mother hurrying towards them.

Castle surrenders the child smiling.

"Oh, my God" she hugs the child. "It's okay, baby" she's still in shock. "Thank you" she looks at the couple gratefully. "Thank you so much" the woman can't manage to stop crying.

"Not a problem" Castle says with a smile before the woman leaves. He looks at Beckett with a look of _wasn't it worth it?_

She rolls her eyes at him as they get in their way to the library again. "Guess you did your good deed of the day, Castle"

"Hmm" he smirks. "And so did you, by the way. What a show" he says in applause.

"Yeah, well… That's actually my job"

"Oh, and that, uh, 'Go ahead. I need the practice'" he shakes his head admiringly. "That was classic"

Beckett smirks and rolls her eyes. "Come on, you're already late" she tugs him forward by his coat playfully.

* * *

**AN: Thanks for the favorites/follows/reviews! You guys rock!**


	13. Chapter 13

On the next day, they fly to Phoenix early in the morning and they're back at the airport that same night to leave to Houston.

They arrive at the hotel pretty late into the night. Alexis is fighting exhaustion, Castle feels like he hasn't slept in years and is just about done with everything and Beckett's just doing her job. She's used to having long days on little sleep.

Castle walks over to the front desk while Beckett and Alexis sit with their stuff on the lobby lounge.

He gives his information to the guy behind the desk.

"Um... I'm sorry Mr. Castle..." he says. "Your reservations says you asked for a one-bedroom suite"

"What?" Castle asks in disbelief. "I clearly asked for a two-bedroom one"

"I'm sorry, sir, but all the two-bedroom suites are currently occupied..." his hands are tied.

Castle can feel his anger rising. He's usually unbothered by situations like this, but he's had a really long day and he just wants to get into the shower and sleep.

Beckett can sense trouble at the front desk so she tells Alexis she'll be back in a second. "What's going on?" the bodyguard asks her boss walking towards him.

"They don't have the room I asked for" Castle is clearly getting frustrated.

"What do you mean?"

"They have only one-bedroom suites" he pauses and then he turns around to face her. "Come on. We're leaving" he walks towards her.

"Castle" she stops him in his tracks putting a hand on his chest. "It's late, both you and Alexis are tired and looking for another hotel would just be crazy" she almost hisses at him. "I can take the couch" she turns to see the desk clerk. "It does have a couch, right?" her look tells him there's no really another answer than yes.

The guy quickly nods in response.

"Okay, see? It's settled"

Castle drops his head in surrender, turns around and checks them in. He also makes a mental note to never come back to this hotel.

Once they get into the room, Alexis falls fast asleep on her bed after barely getting into her pajamas. Castle unpacks some things while Beckett takes a quick shower.

The bodyguard settles on the couch when she's done and Castle is quick to jump into the bath.

A few minutes later, when Beckett is already tucked in, the writer bursts out of the bathroom half naked and dripping wet, with a towel barely wrapped around his waist and another one hanging around his neck.

"Castle!" she hisses as her jaw drops in shock when she sees him. She sits up and covers herself with the covers self-consciously. Not that she's indecent - she's wearing shorts and a t-shirt. "What the hell?"

"Wait" he mumbles taking his computer out of its case.

She stares at him wondering what in the world he's doing. "Are you having a breakdown?"

He places the laptop on the table and he waits for it to turn on. "Not a breakdown. A breakthrough" the writer clarifies as he starts drying his head with the towel that was around his neck. He abandons and starts shaking his head wildly.

"I'm waiting for the breakthrough" he reminds her of a dog that's trying to get the water out of its fur.

"As a writer, I never know when inspiration might strike, so I have to take advantage whenever it does" he explains when he sits down and starts typing. He's been blocked for a while and finally got the breakthrough he needed.

It's not the first time ideas have come up to him when he's in the shower. Once, he was foolish enough to wait until he was done showering to write it... The idea never came back. So now, every time he gets something he's sure to write it down.

"Well, your inspiration might not be the only thing that strikes you tonight" she lets herself fall back on the couch.

Just as he's about to save his document, his cellphone starts ringing. He looks around the room wondering where he left it.

"Bathroom" Beckett reminds him without opening her eyes, uselessly trying to sleep.

"Right" he stumbles comically into the bathroom, tripping on his towel, barely managing to keep himself covered and gets his cellphone. "Yeah?" he picks up

"Rick, sorry to call you so late" Gina says. "Tomorrow morning you're coming back to New York. The rest of the tour will be postponed" she tells him matter-of-factly.

He's completely taken off-guard. "What? Why?"

"You've been invited to an important event, a writers' party, and it would be really good publicity" plus there's been a security issue involving some fan mail but she doesn't want to worry him with the details.

"Okay… What time's the flight?"

She gives him the details and hangs up.

He realizes he's still not wearing anything other than a towel and that he's exhausted, so he goes back to the living room to put the laptop back on its case and inform Beckett of the change of plans.

She simply grunts in understanding longing for him to finally let her sleep.

The next day when Beckett gets up, she finds Alexis sitting on one of the chairs at the kitchen table, already dressed and reading the newspaper.

The bodyguard stretches her arms and rubs her eyes with her hands trying to wipe the sleep away. She gets up and walks to the counter to take some water. "Reading the paper?" she asks the girl after she drinks from the bottle. "You're gonna lose all of your wired-teen-hyper-texting-nano-gizmo street cred" she smiles, not sure of where all that came from.

"I'm a rebel. I kick it old school" Alexis smirks at how much Beckett is starting to sound like her father.

"Where's your dad?" Beckett sits in one of the chairs in front of the teen.

"He went to get some breakfast"

Beckett rolls her eyes. He should've woken her up.

"He didn't want to bother you" Alexis excuses her father seeing the look on the older woman's face.

Right then, Castle opens the door carrying their breakfast. "Good morning Beckett" he greets walking to the table and putting the cups and brown bags down on the table.

"Morning" she nods accepting the coffee he hands her. "Thanks" she brings the drink to her mouth.

"Thanks dad" Alexis folds the newspaper in half and places it aside before taking a sip from her cocoa.

A couple of hours later they're taking off to New York.

They take their usual places – Alexis by the window, Castle at her side and Beckett at the opposite side of the aisle.

"So why the rush to get back?" Beckett asks Castle a couple of minutes after the plane takes off.

"I don't know" he shrugs. "Something about a party that I have to be at tomorrow" his schedule changes constantly therefore he doesn't dwell on the details. He pays someone else to take care of that.

"Oh" she nods as she turns her attention to the in-flight film. Well, to say she turned her attention would probably be an overstatement. Her mind starts flying in all kinds of directions. What she's going to do when she goes back to New York, the fact that she hasn't seen Lanie in such a long time… And so on.

While she's daydreaming, he seems to be too. A smile slowly creeps onto his face. "Hey Beckett"

"Hmm?" she snaps out of her reverie and looks at him.

"Guess I'm taking you out tomorrow night" he grins.

"What?" she narrows her eyes questioning what the hell he's talking about this time.

Alexis' head jerks up from her book to look at her father wondering why in the world he just said that. Frankly she's not surprised that he's hitting on her – in fact he has since day one – and he hasn't been exactly subtle but _this_? This is just plain... wrong.

He chuckles at their reactions. "As my bodyguard" he clarifies. "To the writers' party"

"Oh" Beckett drops her eyes to the ground and back up to face him. "Right"

His daughter just rolls her eyes and focuses back on his book while he still has a smirk on his face.

* * *

That afternoon, Beckett is walking Castle and Alexis up to their apartment.

"So" the bodyguard says as he opens the door. "See you tomorrow?" she's eager to get home and have some alone time, which she hasn't had in a week.

"Wait a sec" the writer runs inside, leaving Alexis and their luggage outside.

"So, did you have fun?" Beckett breaks the silence.

"Yeah" Alexis smiles brightly and nods.

It isn't long before Castle's back. He's got a gift-wrapped box in his hands, which he hands to the bodyguard when he reaches the door. "I got you something, you know, for going with us and all"

She looks at him suspicious. "It's my job" she says for the umpteenth time.

"Go on. Open it" he urges.

She does. It's a copy of _Storm Rising_, his latest book.

"I got you a copy. I even signed it to you. Not that you're a fan" he smiles, it's not like she's made an effort to hide that from him. He also hopes she doesn't have it already. It's been out for a while now.

"Thanks. That's actually kind of… sweet" she's taken aback by the gesture. And is glad she hadn't already bought it.

"Well…" he shrugs.

"See you tomorrow Castle. Bye Alexis" she smiles at them before turning around and leaving. As she gets into the elevator, Beckett's smile grows and she chuckles to herself shaking her head, her mind flooding with memories of the last week.

She can't believe how much fun she actually had. It had been a while since she had done something like that.

She looks down at the book and sighs. The '_Be careful, he's your boss'_ mantra on the back of her head is becoming weaker and weaker… And she's not sure how she feels about that.


End file.
